Leaser Lk tiger muskellunge: another fast grower/large fish

[Mike]

An individual from Muskies, Inc as well as the local Conservation Officer reported that a 51 inch Tiger Muskellunge was captured from Leaser recently. The fish would have originated from the 2013 stocking.

 

[jifigz]

Wow! 51" in only 4 years! Is this a product of this lake being an excellent muskie fishery or is this a fairly typical growth rate for tigers? I know they grow faster than purebreds but is that a normal growth for tigers?

 

[CLSports]

A lot of forage fish in the lake and very good habitat/structure to support them.

For a lake that had been drained, it has come back to support a healthy population of bass, muskie and pickerel.

I am sure the stocked trout helped fatten them up too.

 

[Mike]

Extremely unusual growth, but not a hybrid effect. Has to do with new/reclaimed lake effect and substantial forage, plus little competition in the first year of growth.

All species' growth rates will certainly slow to normal as lake and its fish populations mature, but take advantage of it while you have it. Likewise for Speedwell Forge Lk fishery and the two Owl Creek Reservoirs. Of those, only Speedwell has received a stocking of Tiger Muskies, however (2017).

 

[Mike]

Additionally, serious Leaser musky anglers are reporting that multiple hook-ups in a single day...up to six per day...are not rare events.

 

[Solitariolupo]

In ways it's depending on what it eats. A Muskie can be long but very skinny. In the fish commission a pure or tiger can grow 10 in by the time the hatch to being stocked. That's from march to April. So in the wild I'm sure they grow faster but they are all fast growing fish. 50 inches in 4 years doesn't surprise me.

 

[Dave_W]

Interesting story.
50"+ tigers do show up from time to time, but are rare. There's a 50 tiger mounted in the Little Buffalo SP visitor center that was found dead at the boat ramp some years ago.

However, the growth rate of this fish is not typical and is bigger than any I've heard of before. 50" in four years? Very strange indeed.

A typical four year old muskie in PA is 30-36 inches with a fast burner maybe hitting upper 30s or low 40s. In fact, recent studies have suggested generally poor growth rates for tigers across PA and better rates for purebreds, including wild purebreds in PA rivers.

Obviously, more data and studies are needed (particularly for rivers) but the general trend of what we know these days is that tigers don't "perform" as well as purebreds in PA.

This fish and the Leaser Lake situation are exceptions that prove the rule and tell us more about the unique situation in a "new" impoundment rather than about muskie growth.

 

[afishinado]

Here is the latest PFBC survey of Leaser:

http://pfbc.pa.gov/bioreports/bio2017/6x12-18-LeaserLake.pdf

 

[Mike]

Individuals are once again targeting them (t muskies) and catching them through the ice...strictly C&R. Catching them with a fly rod is, I am sure, a thrill. Hand lining them through the ice and getting them through an 8 inch hole without breaking them off is probably also quite thrilling.

 

[nomad_archer]

Mike wrote:
Extremely unusual growth, but not a hybrid effect. Has to do with new/reclaimed lake effect and substantial forage, plus little competition in the first year of growth.

All species' growth rates will certainly slow to normal as lake and its fish populations mature, but take advantage of it while you have it. Likewise for Speedwell Forge Lk fishery and the two Owl Creek Reservoirs. Of those, only Speedwell has received a stocking of Tiger Muskies, however (2017).

Mike,
Will speedwell continue to receive stockings of tiger muskies or was that a one time stocking?

 

[Mike]

Those fish were excess production so that depends upon how well they do. Based on the blue-green algae blooms that I learned about after the fact, I am not very hopeful. The lake had been doing well in that regard since the refilling and that had been encouraging.

 

[nomad_archer]

Thanks for the info Mike. I hope they do well because Speedwell is about 5 minutes from my house and it would be fun to target them there.

 

[Mike]

Please let me know if you hear of any small ones being caught this year. They should reach at least 18'inches by fall,,but in a new lake situation could be 24 inches by then. Be aware, however, that someone introduced chain pickerel, so that may confound proper tiger musky identification for some anglers. It is unknown how many pickerel are present. I only saw a picture of one about 20 inches long.